COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman said he only takes criticisms personally if they're about his family, so he vowed a peer's parting shot after a hotly-contested game on Saturday “doesn't bother me.”

“He's entitled to his opinions,” Sherman said Monday of Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. “I know what type of shape my team is in.”

Gundy's OSU squad had just defeated A&M 30-29 at Kyle Field when Gundy offered, “I thought our team was in better physical condition. By a longshot.”

On Monday, Sherman countered that unique conditions existed in the third quarter that caused his defenders to cramp time and again — and essentially fail to keep up with the Cowboys' high-octane offense.

“The way we practice — we're in shape, I promise you,” said Sherman, 0-4 against Gundy. “We didn't stress their defense the way they stressed our defense. It had nothing to do with being in shape or out of shape. Some of the most conditioned athletes still cramp.

“I can't say we hydrated properly in hindsight, but we didn't anticipate 37 snaps (on defense) in the third quarter. You're going to cramp on a 95-degree day when you play that much.”

OSU overcame a 20-3 halftime deficit with three third-quarter touchdowns, aided by A&M's inability to hold on to the ball offensively (two interceptions and a fumble in that span). The Cowboys led 24-20 after three quarters in consistently relying on screen passes against a lagging, often-gasping A&M defense.

“Clearly we should have been more prepared,” said defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter, later adding, “the biggest issue we had was not being physical at the point of attack.”

Sherman and DeRuyter said it wasn't just the quick tosses in the flats that were giving the defense fits — it was where OSU quarterback Brandon Weeden was firing passes that consistently caught the Aggies off guard.

“Our guys were looking to the sideline and then trying to get lined up, and OSU was already throwing the screen to the other side of the field,” Sherman said. “You can't run those kinds of screens in the NFL because the receivers will just get blown up. But (OSU) did a good job. They nickel-and-dimed us with that and changed the tempo.”

On Monday night, A&M held a celebration to announce the Aggies' entrance into the Southeastern Conference in 2012. Future SEC foe Arkansas is their next opponent in the third installment of the Southwest Classic, which begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

DeRuyter said the Aggies have made adjustments in the days since the OSU game to get calls in quicker to the defense — lest the Razorbacks employ the same quick-play scheme so effective for OSU.

“We now have a better and simpler system for communicating to the players,” DeRuyter said. “It's difficult to defend when players are looking for a call, and a pass is to the other side.”

The Aggies will face the Razorbacks in a climate-controlled setting on Saturday, then follow with a night game at Texas Tech on Oct. 8, so any temperature-related problems likely are behind them.

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But senior safety Trent Hunter said the heat wasn't as big a factor for the Aggies as their failure to adjust quickly enough to OSU's up-tempo offense.

“We practice (outside) during two-a-days, so the heat wasn't anything new,” Hunter said. “Their tempo got to us more than the weather.”